Homeschooling and international documents for the protection of human rights: An analysis of relations and influences in the Brazilian context

Abstract

In debates regarding home education, the use of rights established by international human rights treaties has become recurrent, sometimes to legitimize it, sometimes to deny it. In this context, this article aims to analyze home education in Brazil, in light of the international human rights documents ratified by the country. This bibliographical research, documentary analysis and discourse analysis in the judgment of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in Extraordinary Appeal 888.815/RS (2018), reveals two primary findings: (1) the frequent use of human rights language by the National Education Association Domiciliar (ANED) and Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), as an attempt to lobby the legislative, executive and judiciary powers to regulate home education in Brazil; and (2) the mention of international human rights documents both by defenders of home education and by entities that have expressed opposition to the practice in Brazil.